OPAP to start offering games of chance on the Internet
The priorities of gaming company OPAP after it changes hands next month will be to make the most of its monopoly in games of chance and to utilize the license to operate video lotto terminals (VLTs).
Emma Delta will formally complete its acquisition of the controlling 33 percent stake in OPAP on October 11 with the payment of 622 million euros to state privatization fund TAIPED.
Emma Delta officials say that the state will have to clarify the status of the temporary licenses it issued in the past that water down the monopoly in games of chance. They add that this allows for the abuse of license holders’ rights as they transfer their rights to third parties, for a price.
There is also consensus that OPAP should proceed immediately to offering Internet games of chance, a right which OPAP has held since 2000 but has never utilized.
It is also possible that Emma Delta will ask for changes to the business plan for the development of video lotto terminals, as it considers the estimates by OPAP’s current management regarding revenues from VLTs to be exaggerated.
